The young woman, now 18, turned up in a police station in Montana, ending a lengthy hunt for a 14-year-old who vanished from the Phoenix area more than three years ago, authorities said.
Recently, Alicia Navarro visited a tiny community close to the Canadian border and claimed to be the young woman who disappeared from her Glendale, Arizona, home on September 15, 2019, according to Glendale police.
At a press conference, Jose Santiago, a spokesman for Glendale police, assured reporters that “she is by every account safe, she is by all reports healthy, and she is by all accounts happy.”
According to police Lt. Scott Waite, the disappearance began as a runaway. However, the case is still being looked into, and it’s unknown how exactly she ended up in Montana.
Every hint she’s given us thus far suggests that she purposefully left her house, according to Waite. Now, it goes without saying that we are investigating the circumstances underlying that choice.
Navarro always spoke to the police alone, according to officials, including the time she went to them in the tiny Montana hamlet, some 40 miles from the Canadian border.
She arrived at a police station. Her name was given as Alicia Navarro. She basically requested assistance in order to be taken off a list of missing children, according to Santiago.
She isn’t having any problems at all. She is not indicted in any way, he said.
Following Navarro’s disappearance, the FBI and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children joined in the search. Over the years, authorities say they received thousands of tips.
Waite claimed that it was “emotionally overwhelming” for both Navarro and her mother when they were reunited. He didn’t say how they got back together.
It was quite overwhelming for everyone involved, even the investigators, according to Waite.
According to police, Navarro and her family are requesting privacy. Police refused to give the Montana town’s name.
According to Santiago, “She want to talk to her mom and make sure her mom knew she was OK.”
According to Santiago, Navarro is “very sorry for what she has placed her mother through” and has stated that it was not her aim. She also stated that she intends to rebuild her relationship to her mother and go on with her life.